Long Beach Pride Announces 2018 Parade Grand Marshals

Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride is proud to announce the Grand Marshals for the 35th annual Long Beach Pride Parade on Sunday, May 20, 2018. They are Alexandra Billings, Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez, the Port of Long Beach, Kobe James, Reverend John P. Huffman, Porter Gilberg, and married couple Jessie Haase and Debbie Lambert. Our Board members choose the Grand Marshals each year based on their service to the LGBTQ+ community.

The day starts with a 9:30 a.m. Pre-Parade Show at the Parade Grandstand on Ocean Boulevard between Cherry Avenue and Junipero Avenue. The parade steps off at 10:30 a.m. at Ocean Boulevard and Lindero Avenue, heads west on Ocean and ends at the curve on Alamitos Avenue.

Meet the 2018 Grand Marshals

Each Grand Marshal title carries a name from our history. The Bob Crow, Judith Doyle and Marilyn Barlow Community Grand Marshals honor the three founders of Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride. The Political Grand Marshal is named for Morris Kight, who co-founded the Christopher Street West Gay Pride Parade in Los Angeles and served as our Grand Marshal in 2002.

Grand Parade Marshal: Alexandra Billings

Alexandra Billings is an actress, teacher, singer and activist with deep ties to our city. She earned her master’s degree at Cal State Long Beach and taught there for several years, and she is now an associate professor of theater at USC. She is among the first openly transgender women to play a transgender character on television. She stars as “Davina” in Amazon’s multi-award-winning series “Transparent” and has guest starred on “How to Get Away with Murder,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “E.R.,” as well as the pilot “Nurses” opposite Lynn Redgrave and the Ryan Murphy pilot “Pretty/Handsome.”

Her starring role in the ABC film “Romy and Michelle: A New Beginning” was one of the first times a transgender actress played a transgender character in the history of television. Her life story for PBS, “From Schoolboy to Showgirl: The Alexandra Billings Story,” was nominated for an Emmy for Best Documentary.

Thank you Long Beach Pride! It is an honor to be back in Long Beach and to be recognized by a community that I love so dearly.

Alexandra Billings

“Morris Kight” Political Grand Marshal: Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez

Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez was elected in June 2014 and unanimously re-elected in 2018 to represent the First Council District of Long Beach. She grew up in a working-class family. Her father drove a truck and her mother worked in aerospace, and she learned the value of hard work early.

She has been a strong ally to the LGBTQ+ community on the Long Beach City Council. She has supported additional funding for meningitis outreach and prevention, worked to make sure LGBTQ+ people were counted in the homeless count, and led a proclamation declaring the third week in May as Long Beach Pride Week. She has also invited LGBTQ+ groups to present before the City Council, among them Long Beach Pride, the Gender and Sexualities Alliance and the Long Beach Imperial Court.

“Whitey Littlefield” Community Bridge Building Award: Port of Long Beach

The Port of Long Beach has supported the LGBTQ+ community for years, from diversity programs at The Center Long Beach to Teen Pride and the Family Fun Zone at the annual Long Beach Pride Festival.

One of the world’s premier seaports, the Port is a gateway for trans-Pacific trade, served by 175 shipping lines with connections to 217 seaports worldwide. In 2017, industry leaders named it the Best North American Seaport for the 19th time in 22 years. The Port handles trade valued at more than $180 billion each year, supports hundreds of thousands of Southern California jobs and is undertaking $4 billion in planned capital improvements this decade. Learn more at polb.com.

Judith Doyle Community Grand Marshal: Reverend John P. Huffman

Reverend John P. Huffman of Metropolitan Community Churches came of age as a gay man in an era of enormous change. He felt called to reach out to the LGBTQ+ community and offer all the support he could, often through donations.

Rev. John and the church’s volunteers keep its outreach programs running. They hold an annual Toy Drive for patients and families served by the C.A.R.E. Program at St. Mary’s Medical Center, open-house dinners on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and a monthly 4th Saturday Clothing Bank, Sack Lunch and ID Assistance Program. At these events, LGBTQ+ and straight neighbors work side by side and notice their similarities more than their differences.

Bob Crow Community Grand Marshal: Porter Gilberg

Porter Gilberg is executive director of The LGBTQ Center of Long Beach. He holds a BA and an MA in women’s studies from UCLA and Claremont Graduate University. He went to his first Pride festival in 1999, at 14, and has attended at least one Pride event every year since.

Porter joined The Center’s staff in 2010 determined to strengthen its infrastructure so it could support every LGBTQ+ person who comes looking for help. Under his leadership, The Center’s budget and staffing have grown more than fivefold, to an organization of more than $2 million with 20 staff members serving more than 25,000 people a year.

His advocacy contributed to the City’s quick compliance with laws creating equitable healthcare opportunities for trans and gender nonconforming city employees, and to revisions in Long Beach Police Department policy that reduce the likelihood of gay and bisexual men being unfairly targeted. Most recently he worked with the League of California Cities on a guidebook that helps cities write employment policies treating trans and gender nonconforming employees with fairness and dignity.

Porter is a commissioner on the County of Los Angeles Commission on Human Relations. He also sits on the advisory boards for the Master of Public Health program at California State University, Long Beach and the Long Beach Trauma Recovery Center, and serves as secretary of the 4th Street Business Association.

Marilyn Barlow Community Grand Marshal: Jessie Haase and Debbie Lambert

Married couple Jessie Haase and Debbie Lambert founded I-Own-It.Today, a Long Beach-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has provided goods, services and leadership mentoring to the community for three years. They believe they were brought together for a purpose, and they put their talents and expertise to work giving back.

Their mission is to provide sustaining goods, services and education to people in need, and inspire all to serve. The organization hands out groceries, snacks, clothing and toiletries to help struggling individuals and families make ends meet, offers volunteer opportunities at community events and connects people with services so they can help themselves. The goal is growth toward independence, not enabling.

Dr. Robert Garcia Youth Grand Marshal: Kobe James

Selected by the Mayor, Kobe James graduated from Jordan High School in 2017. Throughout high school he threw himself into leadership and youth empowerment programs, with mentors who invested in his success. The Omega Brothers Leadership Program changed his life, and he served as its elected president his senior year.

Through Jordan W.R.A.P. (Winners Reaching Amazing Potential), Kobe became a more involved and informed stakeholder in his community. He has volunteered with Activate Uptown, the 2017 Long Beach Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade and My Brother’s Keeper Long Beach, and he helped name the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library and took part in its grand opening.

The Boys and Girls Club named Kobe its Long Beach Youth of the Year for 2017. He is part of the My Brother’s Keeper Health Equity Violence Prevention Youth Leadership Cohort for the City of Long Beach and has served as the program’s youth advisor.

Two Days of Pride

Over the years, the Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Celebration has grown into one of the premier Pride events in the country, drawing thousands of participants over two days. The festival has seven large dance areas, including a main stage that has hosted Grammy Award winner Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, Mya, India.Arie and Village People.

Our 35th festival runs Saturday, May 19, and Sunday, May 20, 2018, at Shoreline Marina Green Park, 450 E. Shoreline Drive, with the parade on Sunday morning.

Find more at LongBeachPride.com, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We will see you on Ocean Boulevard.

Media inquiries: info@longbeachpride.com